By Chris Angeles
How many people remember that Tuesday is Veterans Day? Most students at UP do, right, because it's a federally recognized holiday that, oh wait, UP doesn't recognize it. Look on your calendars of events, in case you wanted a reminder because, oh wait, it almost seems like an afterthought at UP. It appears that the University cannot find the time to honor those who have fought for the freedom for all Americans to exercise their rights to education. No, I don't think the school should legally be required to give the day off (like the majority of America does), but that they have an obligation to pay their respect to America's heroes.
Every year, the Army and Air Force ROTC programs hold a Veterans Day vigil and ceremony in honor of these brave individuals. They stand outside the Praying Hands Memorial in the Shipstad Quad, pulling guard for 24 hours, in a vigil showing respect to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. And this is in honor of UP's fallen comrades, not a tomb for some unknown soldier that the less patriotic might write off as unimportant, distant and inconsequential. This is in honor of fallen UP Alumni! For a school that so self-righteously proclaims its dedication to community, approaches blasphemic action by turning their back to those individuals after they make the greatest and most honorable sacrifice of all.
When I ask people why we don't celebrate federal holidays, they point out that UP is indeed generous enough to forfeit these holidays so that we can have a glorious fall break. Yet they still find time to take off for Founder's Day. And what is Founder's Day? An obscure day off that even seasoned UP students barely know as something other than an opportunity to drink on a Monday night. So never mind this logical fallacy.
But I guess the University makes sense in that the Portland Pilot-turned soldier isn't important once he becomes a soldier, airman, seaman or Marine. It would also make sense that once the UP student gives a little bit of backbone to strengthen America's conviction in their beliefs, it would be appropriate for the University to turn its back. Maybe UP is right. Maybe the lives that were lost so that UP can live these freedoms, exercising its right for educational discretion, aren't quite worth remembering.
It would be disrespectful for me to omit that there is a prayer vigil that happens simultaneously to the guard vigil. But the spotlight should be turned to that, as well. How many people know about the prayer vigil? How advertised is it? We have no problem turning the University into a giant circus event for the nationally publicized Focus the Nation, pouring tons of money, time, energy and publicity into this highlighted event, allowing professors to cancel class to further the "educational awareness" of UP students. Never mind that cancelling class for educational discussion seems contradictory. By centralizing events like this while minimizing important days of remembrance is a blatant slap in the face of that individual who defends this freedom. UP doesn't even cancel classes long enough for the two hour slot so that students can attend the Veterans Day ceremony, which starts at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11th.
But I'm still struggling to determine which is more distasteful: the fact that some ROTC cadets will miss important classes like engineering, biology or nursing, all critical for their education so that they can honor their fallen comrades, or that other students who wish to attend are being forced to make that same decision - which is more important? But this pales compared to the fact that the names written on the memorial, of fallen UP alum, largely, goes unnoticed. That with the exception of a few individuals on campus, the couple hours spent for the Veterans Day ceremony, and perhaps a few glances on Memorial and Independence days, our fallen comrades are forgotten. And that is perhaps the most disgraceful way to honor their patriotism, duty to America's freedom and the sacrifice of their lives: by forgetting them.
So University of Portland, students, faculty, and staff, I ask you this question: At what point are the lives of the American soldier, airman, seaman, and Marine worth honoring, and at what cost, if not their lives, will merit their remembrance? Please, let's all take the time to remember and thank those who have and who continue to fight and give their lives for our freedom.
